From Tech to High-Tech

1. From Tech to High-Tech • Aesthetization of technology=Fetishization of Technology • Technology is generative, “alive” • From monstrous robots and mutants to artificial intelligence, cyborgs, and biotechnological life-forms.

2. APPLIED DIGITAL SOLUTIONS VeriChip Corporation Miniaturized, Implantable Identification Technology VeriChip is a miniaturized, implantable radio frequency identification device (RFID) that is about the size of the point of a typical ballpoint pen. It contains a unique verification number. Utilizing an external scanner, radio frequency energy passes through the skin energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal containing the verification number. The number is displayed by the scanner and transmitted to a secure data storage site by authorized personnel via telephone or Internet.

3. Nancy Nisbet Her chips, which emit a read-only 134-kilohertz frequency that is read by a scanner, contain a 12-digit alphanumeric ID. They were injected into the back of her hands, in the fleshy area between the thumb and index finger; the first was implanted in October 2001, the second in February 2002. The location Nisbet chose for one of the chips -- the back of the right hand -- is also the precise spot where, according to Biblical lore, the "Mark of the Beast" will be placed during the apocalyptic end of the world detailed in the Book of Revelation. Eduardo Kac Inserted a chip into his ankle during a live performance in Sao Paulo in 1997 and then registered himself in an online pet database as both owner and animal. After he implanted the device, a collaborator in Chicago read the chip information with a robotic arm controlled over the Internet, in effect making Kac's body a node in the Internet network.

4. Levis and Philips:Co-producing the Kid-Cyborg “A multifunctional children’s anorak with integrated camera, game displays, and – a special highlight – connected to the Global Positioning System (GPS) targets the somewhat larger toddlers. The navigation system enables worried parents to keep close tabs on their children. A further advantage: the up-and-coming generation effortlessly learns how interactive technology functions.”

5. Instrumental Theory Substantial Theory Postmodern Theory Mutable subject Rational Subject Rational subject Fusion and participation with technology Human is master of technology Human has lost mastery over technology Technology is functional, constructive and rational Technology is irrational, chaotic, and destructive Technology is autonomous and agentic Human knows and controls world through technology Human becomes like technology/less human (“technologized zombie”) Human becomes posthuman (“network node”) Open, hybrid, cyborg subject Empowered and enriched subject Enslaved and disempowered subject Overcoming the Dichotomy

6. High-Technology and the Body • The high-tech aesthetic “merges” technology and the human element • Technology is no longer just an instrument but has its own logic and “mystery.” • But instead of conceiving of this as destructive and out of control, we begin embracing this uncertainty and engage in acts of cooperation, of “making deals” (Gibson:Neuromancer).

7. High-Technology • Is it just a matter of more technology?

8. High-tech as Cultural Expression • “High”-lights the non-instrumental. • “High”-lights the non-technological. • High-tech merely simulates technology. • Brings back a meaning of technology that has been obscured in our modern conception: artandaesthetics. • Form and Function become separated!

9. High-Tech Design: A style or design or interior decoration that uses objects and articles normally found in factories, warehouses, restaurant kitchens, etc., that imitates the stark functionalism of such equipment.

10. High-tech Aesthetics

11. What does this mean? • In the culture of High-Technology, modern notions of technology are turned on their heads! • High-tech turns functionality and instrumentality into something else. But into what?

12. Technology comes from the Greek: Technέ • Technέ means: art, skill, or “craft” • The aesthetic aspect of technology was never really not part of technology, just repressed in our conception of technology. • We witness a re-emergence of the aesthetic within our conception of high-technology: representation, style, design. • From “either/or” to “and also”: • instrumentality/functionality AND ALSO aesthetics/style

13. So, What is the Age of High-tech? • Technology becomes a matter of representation… • …of style… • …of design… • …of image.

14. Having a High-Tech Style: • From basketball shoes, to hair-cuts, to apartments (with pipes and ducts in the open, glass floors and walls, smooth surfaces, etc.), things are being described as having a high-tech style. • in high-tech then, the modern view of functional form has been widely abandoned in favor of a technological look or style that need not be functional in any traditional sense.

19. High-Tech as Style

20. High-Tech as Style

21. High-Tech as Style

22. High-Tech as Style

23. High-Tech as Style Bush’s Aircrafts Saddam’s Aircraft

24. Dimensions of High-tech • Is starkly minimalist, functionalist interior design high-tech? • Is the complex circuitry of a microprocessor high-tech? The dimensions of high-tech: • Minimalism (reducing objects to the most necessary forms, miniaturize, streamline). • Complexity (miniaturization requires “more in less”).

25. Evidence in the Marketplace? Cell phones, PDAs Stereo systems and speakers DVDs Walkman Sneakers Laptops Eye glasses Apartment buildings Night clubs, restaurants

26. Conclusions • Our conception of Technology has shifted. • Technology is aestheticized… …then fetishized… …then incorporated into our habitats, communities, conversations, and finally our bodies. • We are no longer afraid of “merging” with technology – of becoming cyborgs/ cymen/cywomen. • With mobile IT, the HOME, along with other spaces (Starbucks, etc.), are habitats of new and diverse “beings”